I can't get my translator DeepL to use pocos as 'a few' of something and I don't hear it used locally. It normally seems to be : unos cuantos amigos, unas cuantas manzanas. Is this a customary phrase in Spain, or perhaps is USA?
One of the difficulties in spanish is there are so many ways to same the same thing. These exercises don't allow for that. I don't know how this can be included....
Hola Sarah E.
Thanks for your question! Both unos pocos and unos cuantos can mean "a few," but their usage varies by region and context.
Unos pocos is perfectly natural and widely used, particularly in Spain, while unos cuantos is also very common and often carries the sense of "quite a few" or simply "a few," depending on the context. Regional preferences can certainly influence which expression you hear more often.
Machine translators such as DeepL don't always reflect every common variant, so the fact that it prefers unos cuantos doesn't mean unos pocos is incorrect.
You're absolutely right that Spanish often has multiple natural ways of expressing the same idea. We can't include every possible variation in our exercises, but we do try to teach the most common and broadly accepted forms while mentioning alternatives where appropriate.
Saludos
Silvia
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